Our Lodge is named after artist, writer, poet & mystic, William Blake, whose work provides a legacy reminding us that the core concepts within Thelemic philosophy have been with us far longer than merely a century, and that some of its greatest proponents lived and died long before 1904 e.v.

The Gnostic Catholic Church or E.G.C., in fact, recognizes William Blake as a notable link in that historic chain transmitting the light of the gnosis throughout the ages, and has canonized him as a gnostic saint.

The letters O.T.O. stand for Ordo Templi Orientis, the Order of Oriental Templars, or Order of the Temple of the East. O.T.O. is dedicated to the high purpose of securing the Liberty of the Individual and his or her advancement in Light, Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, and Power through Beauty, Courage, and Wit, on the Foundation of Universal Brotherhood.

The core activities of the Lodge are initiation into the O.T.O. system of degrees and the regular celebration of our ecclesiastical rites, especially the Gnostic Mass. In addition, the Lodge regularly provides classes, workshops, seasonal rituals and celebrations.

William Blake Lodge is an official body of Ordo Templi Orientis USA, a 501(c)3 nonprofit religious & private membership organization, serving the Greater Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia metropolitan areas. William Blake was chartered as a Camp on June 2, 1992ev; as an Oasis on September 28, 1996ev; and finally as a Lodge on January 13, 2007ev. It has grown through those years to its present fourth generation of Mastership and into a 24/7 location which has been augmented to suit our needs.

William Blake Lodge is an active community of women and men who have accepted the Law of Thelema; share a mutual interest in such activities as magick, yoga, and Hermetic science; and are united by fraternal pledges of fidelity and cooperation.